You have to make a difference beetween pure infotainment systems (typically centerboard systems) and digital dashboard displays.

That's correct. And yet, that line between infotainment and digital dashboard is blurring as more innovation is taking place in ADAS area. A lot more visual information is captured, and it needs to be distributed and displayed in an intelligent manner. It's not exactly "infotainment" but that's a fertile ground where non-traditional auto chip companies can contribute.

You have to make a difference beetween pure infotainment systems (typically centerboard systems) and digital dashboard displays. For the first, car manufacturer are now ready to accept newcomers, but for the second where safety and product availability over 10 to 20 years are a must, they still prefer the good old automotive qualified companies like Freescale, Fujitsu and the others you mentioned.

By the way, you forgot TI who was the first (me think) to transition from mobile to automotive with its OMAP SoC.

I rememember Philips who did something similar 15 years ago when he derived his Trimedia TV processor to an automotive multimedia processor.

I agree. I think this battle -- mobile vs. auto -- has barely begun. I believe that the automotive industry is facing many issues on so many levels when it comes to "the seamless interfaces" as you put it.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.